ideas & decor
Choosing the Right Flowers for Your Wedding Day
Choose Flowers in Season
Incorporating seasonal flowers in your wedding is the best way to stretch your wedding flower budget.
If you absolutely love a flower that is not typically in season, but available, try using it in your bouquet for a special touch. Use the more cost effective flowers for your centerpieces.
Incorporate the Unexpected to Complement Your Flowers
Consdier these seasonal accents:
Fall: Berries, leaves, acorns, branches
Winter: White branches, white lights, ornaments, crystals
Spring: Wheat grass, butterflies, dragonflies, blooming branches
Summer: Fruit: Lemons, limes, oranges, peaches, grapes, sand & seashells
Something borrowed: an heirloom brooch, necklace or earrings, small family
bible, rosary, your grandmother’s handkerchief
Arrangements should fit the space proportionally.
Wedding flowers should be in proportion to the space they are in. For example, you would expect large floral arrangements in a ballroom with high ceilings.
But large does not have to equal expensive. Think of a single long stemmed bloom, such as a calla lily, accented with bear grass, in a two foot tall vase. All the drama, but a far less expensive option than a tall, full, round, floral arrangement with lots of blooms.
If the space you are in is small, think of other options to enhance the table settings. Try a grouping of small vases of flowers in the table center. Finally, accent with a single small bloom on each guest’s napkin to draw color through the tabletop.
Use Flowers to Enhance the Space
Think about why you chose your reception space and what feeling you would like to create during your wedding.
Rustic elements complement barn weddings such as unstructured flower arrangements in galvanized buckets, table names painted on old barn wood, and candlelight sparkling from lanterns.
Sleek and contemporary floral designs complement a modern wedding with city views. Think glass and metallic elements with architectural looking flowers such as orchids.
Reusing Floral Elements
Consider alternative floral decorating options that can be reused.
Flower wreath hung on church door, then reused at reception laid on tabletop with candle in the center. Pew cones with flower groupings, then hung on wall sconces in reception room. Galvanized buckets with flower arrangement on pews, then reused on cocktail tables at reception.
Bridal bouquets, reused on head table, placed in vases. Archway floral arrangement for ceremony, placed on mantle during the reception. Floral altar arrangement for ceremony, reused on placecard table, at the reception.
Final Tip
Do your homework. Flip through bridal or home magazines to get an idea for color palettes or flowers that you are drawn to.
Many brides today are leaning towards rich bold color combinations. Check out paint samples at paint stores to get a feel for what combinations you may like. Incorporate these elements throughout the wedding, from your save the date card to wedding favors on the big day!
Lyndsey Loring of Lyndsey Loring Design is a floral designer based out of Dover, NH. She can be contacted through her Web site at www.lyndseyloringdesign.com.